There’s a good cop / bad cop routine underway, but it’s Social Security and Medicare that are getting rubber-hosed in the back room.

Rather than giving credit to those who compromise with Paul Ryan‘s agenda, let’s shift the range of the debate by insisting that any cuts be cuts to the military, the wars, the fossil fuel subsidies, the prison industry, or the banker bailouts.

You all are amazing! Hours after our first wave of emails began hitting the inboxes of ProFlowers.com, the company suspended advertisements with Rush Limbaugh. Now, the day after we switched our focus to AOL, they too have announced they will suspend funding for Limbaugh’s vitriol.

Rush has also apologized to Sandra Fluke for his choice of words, but as Sandra says, that “doesn’t change anything… this was not someone who made one accidental statement. This was three days of significant portions of his three-hour show. He insulted me and the women of Georgetown — who have received no apology – he insulted us over 53 times.”

Rush had two full days to consider the impact of his words and make amends, but last Friday — with his sponsors still by his side — he was in his third day of hurling insults at Sandra, saying “she’s having so much sex (and her buddies with her) that she can’t afford it… did you ever think about maybe backing off the amount of sex that you have?…They’re lined up around the block… Ms. Fluke, who bought your condoms in junior high? Who bought your condoms in the sixth grade, or your contraception?”

This was not “absurdity”, as Rush’s mealy-mouthed apology put it; this was a full-on assault on women who want contraceptives covered by medical care. It was an assault on a woman for daring to speak publicly about sex as a medical issue. It is a disgrace that any advertiser continues to proudly associate itself with this type of rhetoric. With advertisers falling as fast as we can target them, we are going after the final few in one fell swoop.

And that’s not all. If the women in your life want to have birth control covered in their medical plan, then Rush “wants something for it” — he wants them to record themselves having sex and then “post the videos online so we can all watch.”

The only reason this bigot is on the air is because of the millions of dollars companies pay each year for advertising on his show. Among them is internet giant AOL, which has even been offering discounts to Limbaugh’s listeners.

Use the form on the right, in this following website, to ask AOL to stand up for women and pull their ads from Rush’s show:

Limbaugh’s disgusting, hateful words specifically targeted Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke. Fluke has fought for coverage for birth control publicly on behalf of a friend at school with a medical issue that resulted in the loss of one of her ovaries — a condition that would have been entirely preventable if she had been given access to hormonal contraception.

Companies have a responsibility not to support hate speech like Limbaugh’s – and consumers like us are demanding that they stand up to him. Rush clearly recognizes the danger he’s in — yesterday he issued a mealy-mouthed “apology” excusing his behavior by saying that he has always “illustrated the absurd with absurdity.”

But those half-hearted, uninspiring words are only feeding the huge momentum that’s building to get Rush off the air. Two of his biggest advertisers, Carbonite and ProFlowers, dropped Rush after his so-called “apology” yesterday. Carbonite’s CEO said, “No one with daughters the age of Sandra Fluke, and I have two, could possibly abide the insult and abuse heaped upon this courageous and well-intentioned young lady.”

After a week in which journalists and police clashed at Occupy Wall Street and related events around the country — and the NYPD arrested 12 reporters — leaders like New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg are starting to feel the heat. Our campaign demanding that all mayors defend the First Amendment and rein in these attacks was featured in today’s New York Times.
So far 30,000 people have joined our action, urging all mayors to protect journalists’ right to free speech. If you have not added your name yet, please sign our petition today. We’ll be delivering them soon.
Once you take action, check out the New York Times article and share it with your friends. This is a fight for the freedom of our press — let’s keep the pressure on.
Thanks — Josh

Dear Ismael,
Early Tuesday morning, the New York Police Department forcibly evacuated Zuccotti Park, home of the Occupy Wall Street movement. The move provoked a clash not only with protesters but with the press. In what appears to have been a coordinated effort to block coverage of the raid, the police barred many journalists from reporting on the police action.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the police kept the media away “to prevent a situation from getting worse and to protect members of the press.”
But according to the New York Times, one journalist told a police officer “I’m press!” and the officer just responded “Not tonight.”
If the mayor of our country’s largest city thinks protecting the press means silencing them, we’re in big trouble. And he’s not alone. Police harassment of the media has been reported during “Occupy” protests in Chicago, Denver, Oakland, Portland and beyond. Arrests of journalists continued throughout the week as protesters took to the streets nationwide.
It’s time to tell mayors across the country to uphold our press freedoms.

The NYPD is using more than words to fight journalists. Since Tuesday, 13 reporters have been arrested, another was put in a choke hold, another was beaten with a baton and others were subjected to police harassment.
In fact, since the birth of the Occupy Wall Street movement two months ago, 26 journalists have been arrested2, 3 and countless others have been roughed up, tear-gassed and pepper sprayed. There have even been reports of police using high-powered strobe lights to disable video cameras and block people from recording their actions.

The movement to stop the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline is breaking through and gaining momentum.

Here’s how we know that the tide is turning:

This week has seen the biggest days yet of the “Tar Sands Action” civil disobedience campaign in DC: over 140 people (including Dr. James Hansen of NASA and over 15 faith leaders) welcomed President Obama back from his vacation by sitting in front of the White House. So far, over 595 people have been arrested in DC, and as I type this over 100 are sitting in today.

Keystone XL is getting a ton of media coverage: in the last few days the issue has been featured in front page articles on The New York Times and The Huffington Post, and great coverage from CNN, NBC, AP, Reuters, and more. (2)

Along with our partners, we’ve collected hundreds of thousands of signatures on a petition that we’ll be delivering on September 3rd. If you haven’t signed and shared it, please do so today.

Yesterday, a reporter asked Obama’s press secretary what the President thinks about the protests. The Press Secretary’s answer: “I haven’t talked to him about it.” It’s a good sign that the question was asked at all, but we’ll clearly need to get louder to really get through to President Obama.

Despite the unprecedented groundswell to stop Keystone XL, the Obama administration is still wavering on the pipeline–and honestly, the deck seems stacked to support it. Last Friday, the State Departmentreleased an Environmental lmpact Statement that declares the pipeline will have “no significant impacts” – yet it doesn’t mention climate change even once. (3)

If we’re going to tip the balance on the Keystone XL pipeline, we’ll need to get louder. You’ve already added your signature, now add your voice by calling the White House.

Can you make a call to the White House? Here’s the phone number: 202-456-1111

350.org is building a global grassroots movement to solve the climate crisis. Our online campaigns, grassroots organizing, and mass public actions are led from the bottom up by thousands of volunteer organizers in over 188 countries. You can join 350.org on Facebook by becoming a fan of our page at facebook.com/350org and follow us on twitter by visiting twitter.com/350. To join our list (maybe a friend forwarded you this e-mail) visit www.350.org/signup. To support our work, donate securely online at 350.org/donate.
What is 350? 350 is the number that leading scientists say is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. Scientists measure carbon dioxide in “parts per million” (ppm), so 350ppm is the number humanity needs to get below as soon as possible to avoid runaway climate change. To get there, we need a different kind of PPM–a “people powered movement” that is made of people like you in every corner of the planet.